shawnatvintagespokes
Finally riding a big boys bike
I found this on craigslist and picked it up for a song. I have only ever seen two of these in all of my web searching, and both were in rough shape. It is pretty much original, except it came fenderless and I added the NOS Wald chrome fenders. I think a 3-speed without fenders is naked. I also added new brake pads, cables, and housings. The pedals are slightly different, so one is not original. It has an alloy Sturmey Archer hub, with a year stamp of 54. Between that and the model number, I am thinking it is a 1956, but don’t know for sure. The Monark book has a picture of one like this from a 1954 catalog page. I took the bike completely apart, even down to the spokes off the hub and rims, and cleaned and polished everything. I did a tad of touchup on the paint and sealed it in clear enamel to protect it. Its a fairly big bike and would fit an average male comfortably. The only thing wrong with it is that the shifter was riveted to the clamp (instead of the clamp being part of the shifter body) and is a bit wiggly jiggly. I’ll probably end up selling it to make room for another project, so if anyone is interested, let me know.